


Once More, With Feeling

by songs_of_the_moon



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Awkwardness, Gen, Poor Miles, Reunions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 02:11:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4417010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songs_of_the_moon/pseuds/songs_of_the_moon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>Don't worry, Chief</em>, Julian had said with a grin, <em>once you get here, we'll find you.</em> That 'we' was pretty worrying, wasn't it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. We

_Don't worry, Chief_ , Julian had said with a grin,  _once you get here, we'll find you_. That 'we' was pretty worrying, wasn't it? Miles wasn't sure he wanted to be found by Garak, even if the alternative was wandering lost through a ruined city, being stared at by Cardassians. He shifted uncomfortably in the crush of the transport station. Most of the other travelers were trying to avoid looking at him, but a trio of children were gawking. The youngest **—** or at least smallest **—** dissolved into a fit of giggles when she realized they'd been caught, but the older two seemed to be embarrassed. Miles tried to smile at them, which only made it worse.

Escaping the crowd by going outside wasn’t nearly as effective as he’d hoped it would be, but at least there was a breeze. _He warned you about the heat, O’Brien._

He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone grabbed his arm, but of course it was only Julian. How he’d managed to blend in with the crowd of Cardassians was unclear.

“Miles! How was your trip?” His smile struck Miles as somehow very Cardassian, broad and toothy, but he was almost certainly just being paranoid.

“Long.” Miles shifted his bags to his other hand. “And hot, at least the last part.”

Julian laughed. “It does take some getting used to.” He linked their arms. “Sorry I’m late. I meant to be here when you arrived, but there’s been some kind of flu going around, and we were swamped at the clinic.” He started walking, leaving Miles to either walk with him or be dragged.

Miles chose to walk. “It’s all right. I wasn’t waiting long.”

It took them ten minutes to reach the city center, which Julian filled with chatter about his work, his colleagues, his neighbors, and everything except Garak. They attracted more than a few stares, which Julian ignored easily but made the hair on Miles' neck stand on end. "You're only the second Human most of them have ever seen," Julian pointed out, "and the second non-Cardassian for more than a few." That didn't make the wide eyes and whispers any less discomfiting. 

The end of their trip found them in front of an apartment complex. It had probably once been rather impressive, but it was currently lacking several top floors and propping up a large pile of rubble. "None of the lifts work," Julian said apologetically, "but we're only on the third floor, so it's not so bad."

And there it was again **—** _we_. "That's good," Miles said, for lack of anything better.

They climbed the stairs in silence. For all that the building was half a ruin, it was also clearly lived in. There were children's toys scattered on the landing, and someone on the bottom floor was singing. The door they finally stopped in front of was locked, which wasn't at all surprising. Julian unlocking it with an old-fashioned key instead of a bio-metric scan was. Miles didn't say anything, but he must have made a face because Julian laughed and said, "The building doesn't always have power, so this is currently our best option."

The apartment was empty, much to Miles' relief. **  
**

"I'm afraid we haven't got a spare bedroom, but the couch folds out," Julian said. "You can leave your things here for now." He gestured toward an empty corner. 

"Thanks." His 'things' consisted of two bags filled mostly with clothes. "It's, uh,"  _a bit small_ , "nice." _  
_

"You're a terrible liar, Miles, but I appreciate the sentiment." A few beats of silence, and then: "Water! You probably want some water." Julian busied himself in the tiny kitchen, making quite a bit more noise than Miles would have expected from such a simple task.

"Thanks," Miles said again, feeling more than a little awkward. The glass Julian pushed into his hand was warm, as was the water in it, but warm water was better than no water. Miles drank it without complaint.

 "Um," Julian said. Miles looked at him, but he didn't seem to have anything else to say.

"What?"

"Why don't I show you around the city? There's really not much more to see in here." Julian started a sweeping gesture meant to encompass the whole apartment, but stopped it abruptly enough that it really only took in the kitchen.

Miles blinked. "Lead the way."


	2. Just

". . .and over there is the concert hall. Well, it used to be a concert hall. Right now it's being used as temporary housing for children who don't have any family left, or whose families can't or won't take them in." Julian laughed weakly. "When did our conversation take such a depressing turn? Just a few minutes ago I was telling you where to get the best ikri buns."

"You can't just tell me about the good things. You're too honest for that." Miles elbowed him in the ribs.

Julian elbowed him back. "I just don't want you to think it's all misery and ruin. It's easy to focus on the negatives **—** and there are a lot of negatives, I admit **—** but there's so much beauty here, Miles, and courage and resilience."

Miles didn't see any beauty, only crumbling buildings and tired people. "I'll take your word for it."

That made Julian laugh, something a bit more honest than his earlier nervous chuckle. "Cardassia _is_ a bit of an acquired taste," he allowed. The low afternoon sun cast him in stark contrasts, exaggerating the lines of his face and fabricating new lines where none existed.

_He looks like he belongs here_. "You seem to have picked it up pretty fast."

"I like to think so."

Miles mulled that over, trying to think of something to say other than,  _You're crazy, you know that?_ and various other truths Julian would no doubt be unwilling to hear. Given the funny look Julian was giving him, he'd already taken too long to respond.  _Time to change the subject._ "I'd heard there were a lot of Federation volunteers on Cardassia, but so far I haven't seen many."  _Smooth, O'Brien, very smooth._

Julian snorted, but otherwise didn't comment on his lack of grace. "Most of the aid is going to the rural areas. There aren't enough replicators to keep everyone fed, and there wouldn't be enough power for them even if there were, so the focus is on getting agricultural production back up." He ran a hand over his hair. "Right now disease and malnutrition are the biggest concerns."

Miles was familiar with the concept of malnutrition, on a personal level, but it was hard to think of it in terms of a society as a whole when he had almost always been able to have anything he wanted at his fingertips the moment he wanted it. Large-scale food scarcity was something to be read about in history books, not dealt with day to day. "It'll get better," he said, because he had to say something.

"It just about has to." Julian fussed with his hair again—pushing it out of his face, Miles realized.

"Don't say that too loudly; wouldn't want to tempt fate."

"You know, some parts of Cardassia have a similar superstition about talking about things that you don't want to happen. I've had more than a few patients tell me not to give the Watcher any ideas." Julian cracked a brief smile. "I've yet to figure out what exactly 'the Watcher' is." 

"Why don't you just ask?" Miles wasn't sure that he himself would, but it seemed unlike Julian not to.

"I wouldn't want to be  _obvious_ ," Julian said, in that tone he used when he was imitating someone. "Besides, don't you think it's more fun to solve mysteries yourself than have the answers laid out for you?"

"I think the heat's getting to you." There was an undercurrent of humor to Miles' gruff response, and for just a moment it was like old times again.

"I think the heat suits me," Julian shot back, grinning. "And you didn't answer the question."

"Why should I? After all, I wouldn't want to be  _obv_ —" Miles cut himself off laughing. Julian, after a second of playing at indignation, joined him. It really wasn't that funny, but Miles couldn't stop giggling, and neither, apparently, could Julian. 

They garnered more than a little attention, propping each other up in the street and shaking with laughter. Julian was the first to regain the capacity for speech, managing to say, "God, Miles, I'm such an idiot sometimes—"

"I'm not going to argue with that."

"—I was so _nervous_ about this. About you coming here, I mean. I talked myself out of asking you to visit a dozen times. I convinced myself that it was going to be a catastrophe, that it would somehow end up with us never talking to each other again." Julian shook his head. "It's a ridiculous notion, of course, as Elim pointed out to me. Repeatedly." He smiled fondly.

"Glad someone was talking sense." Miles kept his tone light, but the use of Garak's first name had rid him of the last vestiges of his sudden fit of humor. He'd nearly managed to forget Julian's latest ill-advised romantic entanglement. Miles doubted they would last. None of the others had.  _He didn't move in with any of the others, though, did he?_

_Or follow them half-way across the galaxy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a nod to [ tinsnip](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tinsnip/pseuds/tinsnip)'s wonderful world-building. It is also rather longer than I had initially planned. I'm still not entirely happy with how it turned out, and I can't quite put my finger on what I'm unhappy with, but I am 100% done fucking with it.


End file.
